Gambo: Suns not interested in trading for Mike Conley

Cross Mike Conley off the list of possible point guard targets for the Phoenix Suns this offseason. According to 98.7 FM’s John Gambadoro, the Suns will not be pursuing Conley on the trade market.

“With Memphis taking Ja Morant at No. 2, Mike Conley is on the block to be traded. The Suns are not trading for Mike Conley,” Gambadoro said Monday on Burns & Gambo. “He’s not an option for the Phoenix Suns.”

Conley was a name immediately linked to the Suns after Memphis leapfrogged them in the NBA Draft Lottery. No need to worry about that any longer, though, per Gambadoro’s intel.

The veteran point guard would be 32 at the start of next season, but he seems to not fit what Phoenix is looking for due to multiple reasons. First off, he’s owed $65 million over the next two seasons with a checkered injury history. Second, it seems as if Suns GM James Jones is prioritizing players who fit more along their young core’s timeline.

If Conley is truly no longer an option, or was never even considered, then add his name alongside Jrue Holiday for names who won’t be the Suns’ starting point guard next season. And eliminating those two win-now options makes the trade market even thinner, so free agency might be the Suns’ preferred choice where it’s headlined by Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, D’Angelo Russell, and Malcolm Brogdon.

Time to keep up with the ever-changing Suns point guard big board, now sans Holiday and Conley:

Free Agency - Irving, Walker, Russell, Brogdon

Trade - Lonzo Ball and Kyle Lowry

Draft - Darius Garland and Coby White

Who will end up being the Suns’ point guard? Well, we now know for sure it won’t be the last remaining piece to Memphis’ Grit ‘n Grind era.